Support for self-contained breathing apparatus



p 19 65 G. L. SMITH ETAL 3,204,775

SUPPORT FOR SELF-CONTAINED BREATHING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 26, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS (AR)! L .6m/77-l AQRy R [7514/55 5F 1/04/54 V Ta /=7- Af/ToFZA/Ey P 1965 G. L. SMITH ETAL 3,204,775

SUPPORT FOR SELF-CONTAINED BREATHING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 26, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 p 1965 G. L. SMITH ETAL 3,204,775

SUPPORT FOR SELF-CONTAINED BREATHING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 26, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS. CAR) L W ITH HA GRy R DEM/IE5? AMA/FL V TEFF'T A 7T1: R A/ Patented Sept. 7, 1965 United States Patent Office 3,204,775 SUPPORT FOR SELF-CONTAINED BREATHING APPARATUS Gary L. Smith, 357 Terrace St., and Harry R. De Weese, 1240 Valencia Ave., both of San Bernardino, Calif. Filed Nov. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 326,014

1 Claim. (Cl. 211-75) This invention relates generally to fire fighting apparatus, and more particularly to supports for air bottles and face masks that will permit rapid attachment to the operator in reparation for instant use.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a special bracket support for conventional self-contained breathing apparatus, so that it may be quickly demounted and attachced to the operators back for instant use.

Air bottle and face mask equipment, including shoulder harness, are well known and commonly used throughout the country as fire fighting apparatus. They are used on motor-driven fire apparatuses well as in commercial and industrial installations. The operation of these wellknown devices is not changed by the present invention, but the speed of use and simplicity of operator attachment has been changed entirely. r

The fundamental idea of the present invention is in the special bracket support for the air equipment that permits the operator to back into the device, quickly engage the shoulder straps, adjust the face mask, and then instantly release the apparatus from its demountable support for This is not a matter of releasing air equip-- instant use. ment from a container or otherwise. The idea is to support self-contained breathing apparatus for rapid, almost instant, operator attachment and demountability ready for fire fighting use.

Another object of the invention is to attach the special brackets to the seats of motor-driven fire apparatus, so that the firemen are fully prepared before the fire is reached.

Yet another object of the invention is to support the special brackets on the wals of buildings of any kind so that they support the conventional air equipment for quick operator attachment and instant demountable release.

Still another object of the invention is to demountably support and secure air equipment for rapid attachment to the operators back and instant release in useable position.

A further object of the invention lies in the demountable connecting means for the bottle and the adjustability to take care of varying situations such as size, method of installation, or the like.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof; reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view partially cut away, showing the device installed on a conventional fire rig;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the device of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view showing a modification of the demountable support for the air bottle;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a partial front elevational view, showing one form of bracket base for use with two additional bottles;

FIGURE 7 is a partial front elevational view showing a modification of the bracket for use with one air bottle;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view showing the apparatus housed and installed for industrial use;

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view partially cut away showing a modification of the device for preferred use in commercial installations;

FIGURE 10 is a plan view from above, of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11- is a'sectional view taken on line 11-11 of FIGURE 9'; Y

FIGURElZ is a view taken on the line 1212 of FIG- URE 9;

FIGURE 13 is a plan view from above of a modified bottle release;

FIGURE 14 'is an enlarged partial view of the attachment member'of FIGURE 13; and

FIG. 15 is a side View from the right of FIG. 13 with hooks and the eyes omitted. Before referring specifically to the drawings, it is believed advisable to point out that two types of quick demountable and'rapid attachment apparatus for air equipment has been disclosed in the drawings. FIGURES 1 through 7 show a preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to a conventional fire rig. FIGURES 8 through 15 show a preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to industrial installations. However, the basic'features of both embodiments are the same, and they could be interchanged with minor adjustments. Furthenthe structure of the brackets could be changed as to shape and form as long as the fundamental features are retained.

Generally speaking, with respect to the novel air equipment support, it is essential that the device be constructed to contain at least three forms of air bottle apparaus,

mask and harness. As stated before, these devices are conventional, and are purchased from well-known manufacturers. The disclosure of FIGURES 1 through 7 shows the special bracket integrally attached to a conventional fire rig. The support becomes the back for the firemans seat. The air bottle is demountably contained in the bracket in back-attaching position. An upper quick-release means of conventional type for the bottle ermits the operator to quickly shoulder the equipment straps and release the bottle for instant use.

The disclosure of FIGURES 8 through 15 is substantially the same. The operator opens the housing of FIG- URE 8, backs into the harness straps, releases a similar upper bottle release member, and with the face mask in place is ready for any firefighting condition-s.

Referring specifically to FIGURES 1 through 3, a conventional motor-driven fire fighting vehicle or rig is generally referred to as F. The rig F i usually provided with dual seats S, one of which is shown in FIGURE 1. The hacks for the seats have been removed, and applicants support mechanism substituted therefor. A pair of parallel disposed upwardly extending arm 20 are connected at their upper ends by a curved bottle receiving strip 22. Intermediate, dual, rearwardly extending metal strips 24 welded to the arms 20 have slotted and bolted adjustable connections 26 with strips 28 secured at 29 to the body of the rig F. Extending inwardly from the arms 20 are a pair of inwardly tipped angle irons 30, which provide the lower support for depending strip 31 attached to the harness for the bottle 0. The lower ends of the arms 20 may extend parallel to the floor of the rig F and be secured thereto at 32 as shown in FIGURE 7, to house a single extra air bottle 0 on supports 34, or they may be bent inwardly into a single extension 36 secured at 38 in order to support dual extra bottle 0 handy for quick use. The lower ends of the arms 20 are made vertically adjustable as indicated at 40.

In FIGURES 4 through 7, the lower bracket support for the bottle 0 has been changed slightly to accommodate a certain type of air bottle equipment. In this instance, a crosspiece 42 has an inwardly extending tongue 44 upon which a small cup or sleeve 46 is welded to receive the lower end of the bottle 0. An upper flexible strap 48 is connected at to one of the arms and has a manually releasable clamping connection 52 with the opposed upper end of arm 20. The conventional bottle connection 54 with the strip and harness 58 and face mask 60 are shown in useful position in FIGURE 1.

' Valuable time is saved by having the air equipment supported at all times for quick attachment to the operator and instant release for the physical fire fighting action.

In FIGURES 8 through 15, the novel -sel fcontained breathing apparatus support has been modified for commercial or industrial use but the elements'arebasically the same. A box-like housing 62 having split hinged covers 64 suitably covers and protects the conventional; air equipment again referred to as O. Thesupport is somewhat diiferent. An upright support is formed by an upper outer tubular member 65'and an inner and lower tubular ortion 66. These members are adjustably associated'by means of a tightening screw 68, and the lower end portion 66 is pivotally connected at 78 to a plate '72 secured to the lower edge of the housing 62. v Y I 1 A clamp 76 bolted at 78 to the support 64 has diagonally extending, adjustable connections :80 withdual strips 82 secured at 84 to the housing 64. A curvedfbottlereceiving bracket 86 is welded to the upper-end-of the tube 64. An inwardly extending tongue 88-welded to the tube 64 at 90 has a bottle receiving cup or sleeve 92 welded thereto at 94. The curved bracket 86 has aclamp-type flexible bottle receiving strap'96 secured thereto asshown in FIGURE 10. In FIGURE '13, however, an upwardly releasable bottle securing member 98 is-shown connected to the bracket 86 bydual spring held hooks 190,

The operation of the device, whether attached to a fire rig or to an industrial Wall, is'substantially the same. The operator backs into the support'and self-contained breathing apparatus. He engages the shoulder straps, adjusts the face mask, and reaches to release the upper end of the demountable bottle. He is almost instantly ready for action in a manner never heretofore accomplished.

While we have shown and described in considerable detail what we believe to be the preferred form of our inventiorn, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in the shape and arrangement of the several parts may be made without departing from the broad scope of the invention as defined in the following claim. I

We claim:

Fire-fighting equipment for fire trucks, comprising:

a back rest comprising andincluding;

inwardly projecting intermediate back rest brackets adapted to receive the downwardly extending neck of an oxygen bottle in releaseable manner;

back rest' bands 'for sustaining the bottle in substantially vertical position against said back; and

manually quick-release means attached to the upper end of said'backrest and adapted to surround the bottle.

References by the Examiner "UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,494,916 5/24 Jones 21l1.3 2,029,701 2/36 Dode'lin 248313 2,406g334 8/46 Keller 248--311 2,696,963 12/54 Shepherd 248 229 2,888,227 5/59- McGrath 248279 2,915,799 12/59 Andreasen 24-270 FOREIGN PATENTS 214, 97 8/56 Austria.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

